Douluo Continent: Tonight, a Fairy Tale Descends

In the first few days, the Deep Sea Demon Whale King's devouring was somewhat selective.

He first devoured those sea spirit beasts with cultivation levels of over 100,000 years. Those overlords who once dominated a region in the deep sea did not even have the right to struggle in front of him.

The dark divine power was like an invisible net, wrapping those enormous bodies layer by layer, and then slowly and irreversibly compressing, peeling away, and absorbing them.

Those ancient soul beasts that once dominated the seas were like wheat being harvested, disappearing one after another into the dark waters under his hands.

A few days later, he started targeting even the younger soul beasts.

Although the energy provided by soul beasts under 10,000 years old is far less than that of soul beasts over 100,000 years old, their sheer number makes them a force to be reckoned with.

The ecosystem of the entire deep-sea whale habitat is being reshaped at an irreversible pace.

The sea spirit beasts that once roamed the edge of the sea began to desperately flee to more distant places, but the mental power of the Deep Sea Demon Whale King had already covered the sea area within a radius of a thousand miles. Any existence that tried to escape would be sensed by him and then pulled back to its original point by an irresistible force.

Panic spread among the sea spirit beasts.

Those sea spirit beasts who once had no faith in the sea god are now instinctively recalling the island shrouded in the power of the sea god.

They remembered the eternally calm seas surrounding Poseidon Island, the warm ocean currents blessed by the sea god, and the blue-gold light that had once shielded them from all threats.

"Lord Sea God... save us..."

A ten-thousand-year-old sea spirit beast, driven to the brink of despair, let out a low, desperate cry in its last moments before its consciousness faded.

The sound spread through the seawater, like a pebble thrown into a still lake, creating ripples in the sea spirit beast horde.

More and more sea spirit beasts began to call out that name that had disappeared in their own way.

Some emitted a low, resonant sound, some released faint mental fluctuations, and some, before completely giving up resistance, condensed their consciousness into an extremely weak signal, attempting to penetrate the layers of seawater and reach that place that was no longer there.

They didn't know that Poseidon Island no longer existed. They didn't know that the successor of Poseidon had fled to the mainland.

All they knew was that before the appearance of the Deep Sea Demon Whale King, their lives, while not exactly peaceful, were at least not as precarious as they were now, constantly in danger of being devoured.

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King ignored those calls.

His spiritual power was like a furnace that had been ignited, transforming, refining, and purifying the energy that gathered in his perception in batches, then guiding it into his body along his meridians, and then distributing it to Lan Fuzi and the Deep Sea Demon Whale Queen in an even purer form.

Lan Fuzi hovered in the sea not far from the Deep Sea Demon Whale King, surrounded by a layer of warm golden light compressed to the extreme.

The power that the Deep Sea Demon Whale King had transferred into her body was reshaping her meridians and bones in a way that far exceeded her own cultivation speed.

She could feel her cultivation level rising at an almost terrifying speed.

Ninety thousand years, ninety-five thousand years, ninety-eight thousand years... The barrier between her and one hundred thousand years was getting thinner and thinner, so thin that she could already feel the air on the other side of the door.

The Deep Sea Demon Whale Queen is also undergoing a similar transformation. Her aura is even more profound than that of Lan Fuzi. As the refined energy flows through her body, it is like clay that has been repeatedly fired, reshaping her foundation in a steady and irreversible way.

Several days later, Lan Fuzi was the first to touch the threshold of the Heavenly Tribulation.

The golden light around her suddenly intensified, and above the sea, the clouds began to churn, with lightning dancing and condensing within them, like a furnace being ignited.

A celestial tribulation lasting ten thousand years.

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King opened his eyes, his gaze piercing through layers of water curtains to land on the forming thunderclouds above his head. He didn't speak, but slowly raised his right hand.

Dark blue divine power surged from his palm, like a curtain being drawn back, precisely covering the sea above Lan Fuzi.

When the first bolt of lightning struck, the dark blue barrier trembled slightly. Then, as if it had struck some kind of impenetrable rock, the lightning shattered into countless tiny arcs of electricity that scattered across the surrounding sea.

The second, third, and fourth bolts of lightning were all thicker and brighter than the previous ones, but none of them could break through the barrier.

Lan Fuzi didn't even feel any pain.

She simply hovered below the barrier, looking up at the shattering lightning above her head and the slowly calming sea, and then felt the energy within her body becoming more harmonious in an unprecedented way.

A 100,000-year-old soul beast.

She did it.

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King withdrew his hand, his gaze falling on the slowly receding thundercloud. Only after confirming that the heavenly tribulation had completely dissipated did he close his eyes again.

He didn't say anything to praise him, but simply acted as if he had done something perfectly natural.

The tribulation of the Deep Sea Demon Whale Queen arrived a few days later than that of Lan Fuzi, and her 300,000-year tribulation was far more terrifying than the 100,000-year tribulation that Lan Fuzi experienced.

Thunderclouds covered the entire Deep Sea Demon Whale Sea area, and the density of lightning surging in the clouds far exceeded that of ordinary heavenly tribulations.

But the Deep Sea Demon Whale King used the same method. The dark blue barrier covered his wife and daughter's heads, shutting out all the lightning and ensuring that not a single aftershock could reach them.

After successfully transcending her tribulation, the Deep Sea Demon Whale Queen did not swim around excitedly like Lan Fuzi. Instead, she quietly floated in the water, closed her eyes, and felt the power within her body becoming more and more complete.

A moment later, she opened her eyes, looked at the Deep Sea Demon Whale King, and shook her head slightly.

“That’s enough,” she said. “I’ll walk the rest of the way myself.”

The Deep Sea Demon Whale Queen wanted to be like him, improving her realm by comprehending the rules.

Instead of continuing to accept the transferred power, which could improve her cultivation level in a short time, she could not truly touch the core of the rules.

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King looked at her, remained silent for a moment, and then nodded.

He didn't say much, but slowly withdrew the divine power that was gathering into his body.

When he turned his gaze toward the mainland, the emotions surging in his golden eyes were clearer than ever before.

It's time to go ashore.

……

In the city of Bright Moon.

Eva stood in a side hall of the palace that had been converted into a soul tool workshop, holding a newly formed silver disc in her hand.

The disc was only the size of a palm, its surface engraved with intricate soul-guiding patterns, and its edge was inlaid with six crystal fragments compressed to the extreme, which gleamed with a cold luster under the candlelight.

She gently stroked the edge of the disc with her fingertips, feeling the slowly flowing energy fluctuations within it.

According to the theory on the blueprints, this disc should be powerful enough to destroy a small city in one strike.

But she hasn't verified it yet; she needs to find a sufficiently open and safe place to test its actual effectiveness.

Eva put the disc into her soul tool and was about to leave the side hall when she suddenly stopped.

She sensed an extremely powerful aura of the sea god rising from a distance.

The aura was thick and pure, carrying the vastness and profundity unique to the ocean. In Eva's perception, it was like a star that suddenly shone brightly, suppressing all other auras in that area.

Eva's eyebrows twitched slightly. She was looking in Ariel's direction.

She didn't rush over.

This level of energy fluctuation means that Ariel is not engaged in ordinary cultivation, but rather in the final stage of the Nine Trials of the Sea God, the inheritance of the Sea God.

Any external interference could affect the integrity of the process.

Eva simply stood quietly in place, sensing the sea god's aura steadily rising, confirming that there were no signs of disorder or breakage, before she stepped back towards the temple gate.

Meanwhile, in the villa in the east of the city, which Eva had designated as a restricted area, a dense, almost viscous, golden light was currently enveloping them.

The light did not come from a fixed direction, but rather seeped out from the interior of every inch of the room, as if something was slowly emerging from the void.

Poseidon stood in the center of the room, holding the golden trident scepter of Neptune in his hand, the scepter shining brighter than ever before.

Her gaze fell on Ariel across from her.

Ariel stood on the other side of the room, her fiery red hair gleaming like molten gold under the golden light.

Her light blue eyes were also fixed on Poseidon, sensing the increasingly intense power of the sea god surrounding them.

“The eighth test is complete,” Poseidon said, her voice more steady than usual, yet carrying a subtle hint of seriousness. “You’ve done it faster than I expected.”

Ariel didn't speak. She knew Poseidon still had something to say.

Poseidon didn't pause for long. She slowly raised her right hand, holding the trident scepter horizontally in front of her, the tip of the scepter pointing at the golden trident of Poseidon branded on Ariel's forehead.

"The Ninth Trial: The Inheritance of the Sea God." Poseidon's voice was not loud, but it carried a certainty as firm as the seabed. "This will be the final step, and the only one. You will not need to complete it through battle or trials."

As she spoke, she gently pushed the trident forward.

The tip of the trident stopped about an inch from Ariel's forehead, and then the prismatic gem set in the staff began to glow with a warm and solid golden light.

Light emanated from the surface of the gemstone, like a wisp of burning thread, landing precisely on the trident mark of Poseidon in the center of Ariel's forehead.

The moment they made contact, Ariel felt a warm energy flow into her body from the point of contact.

The energy wasn't violent, but it carried a profound weight, like the entire ocean tilting towards her, flowing slowly along her meridians and seeping into her bones, flesh, and every cell deep within her body.

Then, a voice rang out in the void.

The voice did not come from Poseidon, but from the prismatic gem that was connected to the brand on Ariel's forehead, from the trident itself, and from an even more ancient source belonging to the authority of the sea god.

"The Ninth Trial of the Sea God, the Ninth Trial, the Inheritance of the Sea God, begins."

The moment the words left her lips, Poseidon's aura completely changed.

The trident in her hand suddenly burst forth with a dazzling golden light, which enveloped the entire room in a very short time, like a miniature sun being ignited and blooming in the center of the room.

Immediately afterwards, a huge phantom appeared behind Poseidon.

It was a phantom of a sea god formed from golden light. Its face was shrouded in light and could not be clearly seen, but its outline was as clear as a real object.

Chapter 595 The Arrival of the Deep Sea Demon Whale King

The moment the phantom appeared, the nine spirit rings beneath Poseidon's feet simultaneously emitted an unprecedentedly brilliant light.

The light from the nine spirit rings changed from bright to scorching in a very short time, and then from scorching to shattering.

When the first spirit ring shattered, it made a crisp sound like glass falling to the ground. The sound wasn't loud, but it echoed endlessly in the empty room.

Then came the second, the third, and the fourth. The pace of each soul ring shattering accelerated, and the fragments transformed into fine golden specks, like an inverted shower of stars, converging towards the emerging phantom of the sea god.

Golden flames rose from the shattered spirit rings, enveloping Poseidon completely.

The flames were not scorching, but they possessed a quality as if they were burning the very soul itself. They rose up along the edge of Poseidon's robes, encompassing her body, her power, and all the essence she had accumulated over the long years into that burning light.

Poseidon felt her consciousness thinning in a way that she could clearly perceive.

Those fragments of memories that were once closely connected with Poseidon Island are being peeled away and purified layer by layer, turning into the purest energy and being injected into the golden channel that is taking shape.

Then, she turned her head slightly, her gaze falling on Ariel, and a gentle smile slowly appeared on her lips.

The smile was faint, with the corners of the mouth only slightly upturned, yet it carried a sense of calm and relief, as if one had finally accomplished their mission.

Goodbye, Ariel.